Main menu

AUTOWEEK TV: Mustangs, Mercurys fill the garage of Del Proudfit

Also in this episode: Chasing prototypes of the new Chevrolet Corvette, Hyundai says it's working on a 10-speed transmission and Spyker gets sold to a U.S. investor.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to a Thursday edition of Autoweek TV.

Coming up, we'll take a tour of an Autoweek reader's garage--one with plenty of old Mustangs and Mercurys in it.

But first, here's a look at what's going on in the auto world.

--

The arrival of a new Chevrolet Corvette happens with about the same frequency of Haley's comet.

But when that time comes, the anticipation is as intense as waiting for your 16th birthday. And with a new Vette less than two years away, nothing ratchets up the interest like some spy photos.

So here's the latest look at an engineering mule for the C7 Corvette--wearing body work from the current Grand Sport.

Note how the front wheel crowds the front of the opening, a sign of a longer wheelbase. And all the wheels sit well inside the openings, which we think tips off the fact that the next Vette will be a bit narrower than the current car.

We expect the C7 to launch in 2013 as a 2014 model.

--

The cash-strapped owner of Saab says it will sell the Spyker car business to a U.S. private-equity firm.

North Street Capital, which is led by racing enthusiast Alex Mascioli, who will pay about $44 million for Spyker.

Swedish Automobile, which owns Saab, says it will use the cash to pay a private-investment company owned by Saab CEO Victor Muller.

--

Now, from the "Is more better?" file, the Internet is awash in reports that Hyundai Motor is working on a 10-speed automatic transmission.

A Bloomberg News story quotes the president of Hyundai as saying that the 10-speed will appear in some of the automaker's luxury cars in 2014.

That would put Hyundai two cogs ahead of most of the luxury pack, and some nonluxury-car makers, who are pushing out eight-speed automatics over the next couple of years in search of better fuel economy.

--

All right, let's close today with a look inside the garage of Ford and Mercury collector Del Proudfit. Here's contributor Phil Berg.

--

Thanks, Phil.

That's the high-octane news for now. Keep up with all of the action at autoweek.com.